This application claims benefit of Japanese Application number 2001-325433 filed in Japan on Oct. 23, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated by this reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasound diagnostic device capable of obtaining an ultrasound diagnostic image by performing transmission/reception of ultrasound signals with respect to a subject in a body cavity and piercing the subject with a biopsy needle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the field of medical treatment, use is made of ultrasound diagnostic devices for observation of tissues or blood flow within the body. A typical ultrasound diagnostic device chiefly comprises an ultrasound probe that transmits and receives ultrasound in respect of a part to be examined within the body and the main ultrasound device unit that is connected with the probe. Also, in such an ultrasound diagnostic device, when extracting body fluids or cells of a subject constituted by a part to be observed, a biopsy needle is employed to pierce the subject. Typically the biopsy needle is mounted on an adaptor which is freely detachably mounted on the probe. Some of such devices comprising a biopsy needle display a biopsy guide indicating the direction of insertion of the biopsy needle with respect to the desired part to be observed on a monitor screen when performing piercing whilst conducting observation of for example a B mode image.
Such prior art ultrasound diagnostic devices that display a biopsy guide are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H3-173542 or Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H5-176922.
In the ultrasound diagnostic device described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H3-173542, it is required that the operator should specify with visual observation the direction of insertion of the biopsy needle, using the guide groove provided in the piercing adaptor.
Also, in the ultrasound diagnostic device described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H5-176922, the allowable error of the direction in which the biopsy needle is to be inserted is displayed by two lines when the part where biopsy is to be performed is specified. The operator can easily perform biopsy when the biopsy needle is inserted arranged in a direction coincident with the set biopsy guide. However, in regard to this invention also, it is required that the operator should specify by visual observation the direction of insertion of the biopsy needle.
Consequently, in the case of both Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H3-173542 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H5-176922, it is an inevitable requirement that the probe should be an external ultrasound probe, since the operator must be able to specify the direction of insertion of the biopsy needle by visual observation. Thus, when, as in the case of an ultrasound endoscope, the direction in which the biopsy needle exits after insertion into a cavity of the body is variable, the operator was not able to specify by visual observation the direction of insertion of the biopsy needle.
In other words, the inventions of the ultrasound diagnostic devices described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H3-173542 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H5-176922 could not be applied to an ultrasound endoscope.
Techniques which are applicable to ultrasound endoscopes for displaying by drawings or symbols the position of a biopsy needle or the direction of insertion of a biopsy needle in an ultrasound diagnostic image are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H8-299344, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H8-229042 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H9-271472.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H8-299344 discloses an ultrasound diagnostic device wherein the direction of display of the biopsy guide is made to coincide with the angle of insertion of the biopsy needle.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H8-229042 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H9-271472 disclose a technique in which the position of the tip of the biopsy needle is detected and displayed on an ultrasound tomogram.
A device for examining a subject according to the present invention comprises an image capture section capable of acquiring an image of a subject, an insertion/retraction member having a desired positional relationship with the image capture section and capable of being freely inserted/retracted with respect to the subject, an image generating section that generates an image comprising an image of the subject acquired by the image capture section and an image of the insertion/retraction member, and a boundary position superimposition section that superimposes an insertion/retraction boundary marker indicating the position of an insertion/retraction boundary of the insertion/retraction member in the image generated by the image generating section.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become fully apparent from the following description.